Boris Johnson, who is under intense political pressure after a series of scandals linked to parties in Downing Street during confinement, said on Friday that he would call Vladimir Putin in the coming days to urge him to “step back” and s engage more in the diplomatic way.
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Boris Johnson wants to respond to the rise of “Russian hostility towards Ukraine. The British Prime Minister announced on Saturday, January 29, his intention to propose to NATO a deployment “major” of troops, warships and combat aircraft in Europe.
The proposal, which is expected to be made at a meeting of NATO military chiefs next week, could see London double the British contingent of some 1,150 troops currently deployed in Eastern Europe and provide “defensive weapons” to Estonia, according to the Prime Minister’s office.
“This set of measures would send a clear message to the Kremlin: we will not tolerate their destabilizing activity, and we will always stand with our NATO allies in the face of Russian hostility.”, he said in a statement released Saturday evening. “I have instructed our armed forces to prepare to deploy troops to Europe next week, so as to be able to provide ground, air and naval support to our NATO allies,” stressed Boris Johnson again.
British diplomacy must also announce Monday in Parliament a toughening of its sanctions regime to allow the United Kingdom, accused of turning a blind eye to the influx of Russian funds on its soil, to target strategic and financial interests of Moscow.
Foreign Minister Liz Truss and Defense Minister Ben Wallace are also due to travel to Moscow for talks with their Russian counterparts in the coming days. Boris Johnson himself said on Friday that he would call Vladimir Putin in the coming days to urge him to “to move back” and engage more in the diplomatic channel on Ukraine. The head of the British government must also make a trip to the region in the coming days.
Russia has deployed tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine’s borders in recent months, raising fears of an invasion. While the Russian government denies any such plans, it insists on written guarantees for Russia’s security, including the promise that Ukraine will not join NATO.